THE LESSON

Okay, let's get started. First up is preparation. I always write the lesson flow on the
board so that I can just look over my shoulder to see what's next, rather than flicking
through my notes, so here it is:

1. Attendance
2. Hello Song
3. Basic Questions - name, age, favorites
4. TPR (Total Physical Response)
5. Alphabet - H, I focus
6. Theme: Body Parts - Flashcards
7. Textbook - draw body
8. Games - Touch, Shoot the basket
9. Story - From Head to Toe
10. Song - Hokey Pokey
11. Wrap-up & Good-bye Song

Before class starts, I write the names of the children on the board and give them all three
points. I use these points at the end of the lesson to reward them on their 'stamp card'.
They can get a maximum of four points each lesson. Next, I play the Hello Song in the
background and greet the children and their parents outside the classroom.

1. Attendance. The kids come in, but Hiroki isn't here yet (typical!). I have them put
their bags to the side and sit down on the mats. I pull out my attendance sheet and ask
"Where's Naoko?" She raises her hand shouting "I'm here!" but I ignore her for the
moment and ask Sayaka and Taichi in turn "Are you Naoko?" They laugh and reply
"No, I'm not!" Then I ask where Naoko is again, and this time I accept Naoko's response
and ask her "How are you?" she replies with "I'm fine." and I draw a little smiley face
on the attendance sheet for her. I repeat asking where the children are in the same
manner and when I get to Hiroki, I have the children chant "He's, not here! He's not
here!" At that moment, in bursts Hiroki who throws his bag down and screams "I'm
here!!!!"

2. Hello Song. We all stand up and march to the tune, waving our hands and pulling
muscle-man poses when we sing "I'm fine". The kids are laughing and all is going well
so far.

3. Basic Questions. I have the kids sit down facing the front while I stand up and ask
"How are you?", "What's your name?", "How old are you?", "Do you like banana
pizza?" (to laughs and 'yuck' faces) and "What color do you like?" For each question, I
use gestures to indicate meaning and I help the kids answer by mouthing and
whispering their answers to help them along. This whole section is done with the kids
responding together. Next, I ask them individually, so I pull out my 'cow', a fluffy
stuffed toy I use as a huge ball, and a bucket. I pick a kid randomly and ask one of the
questions above. I help them answer it and toss them the 'cow' saying "Here you are."
They reply "Thank you" and I respond "You're welcome". They throw the ball towards
the bucket, I yell "mooooooo!" and catch the 'cow' in the bucket. I repeat the procedure
with each child.

Problem: Hiroki is doing 'head-stands' while I ask the questions.

Solution: I ask him to sit properly and wave the board eraser over one of his points. He
doesn't want to lose a point so he sits properly, and I rub him on the head.

4. TPR. We all stand up and I call "Attention! Salute!" The kids respond by standing up
straight and raising their hand to their forehead. "Everybody, let's walk!" and we march
around the room as I continuously call "Walk, walk, walk!" When I ask them to stop,
we do the 'attention' thing again and repeat with run, jump, hop, swim, and crawl. Then
we stand up and I call the following commands (doing the actions with the kids) "Stand
up, sit down, stand up, sit down, jump, jump, jump, turn around, clap your hands, stomp
your feet, brush your teeth, brush your hair, wash your hands, wash your face, clean
your ears, blow your nose, rub your tummy and pat your head, shake, sneeze!" Then we
go straight into the 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' song, lying on our backs for the
second verse (causing the kids to lift their feet in the air so they can touch their toes -
very funny!).

5. Alphabet. We're all pretty exhausted after that all that TPR, which Hiroki and Sayaka
particularly enjoyed because of their kinesthetic and auditory learning styles. So, we all
sit down on the mats again and I pull out the alphabet flashcards. Each card has a
picture which corresponds to the letter on the card, e.g. A - apple. I go through the cards
chanting the letters and words, using gestures and more importantly, rhythm. The kids
chorus what I say and copy my gestures. Taichi's concentration is starting to drift, but I
bring his focus back to the cards by chasing him with my hands clasped together
mimicking a fish (teaching the F - fish card). I throw some questions in such as "O -
orange, do you like orange socks?" The combination of rhythm, gestures and jokes get
us through all 26 cards and we stand up to sing the song. I do the song, tapping various
body parts along with the music - clap hands, tap head, knees and finally my bottom
which the kids copy.

Problem: During the song, Naoko is looking bored, Taichi isn't singing and Hiroki is
crawling under the table.

Solution: Whoosh! With no warning, all three of them lose a point. We start the song
again and I ask for them to sing in a "big voice!" They rally together and sing their
hearts out, and all win their points back for their efforts. High fives all round.

Today, we are focusing on H and I. Each child is given a copy of the H and I cards
which they put on the floor in front of them. I call out a letter which they hit like a
drum. "H, I, H, I, ... H, H, H, ... I, I, I, ..." etc. We finish with a rapid
"HIIHIHIIHHIHIHI - whoooooo!!!!" which they enjoy.

6. Theme: Body Parts - Flashcards. There are three steps I follow when teaching
vocabulary through flashcards - presentation, reception and production. We start with
chorusing the cards, changing voice and pitch to make it more enjoyable. I ask the
children "Okay?" They reply "Okay." I ask "Really?" and they do their muscle-man
pose and in a deep voice answer "Yes." Next, I want to test how well they remember the
cards with a receptive skills activity - one that doesn't require them to say the words,
just recognize them. I put the cards on the floor and ask the kids to put their hands on
their head. I call a body part card and the first kid to slam it wins it. Of course, Naoko
gets the first card as always! We continue and I steadily move the cards away from
Naoko and closer to the other kids - she doesn't seem to mind and enjoys the challenge.

Problem: Naoko and Taichi hit the right card at the same time. I get them to do Rock,
Scissors, Paper and Naoko wins. Taichi is upset and doesn't want to play anymore.

Solution: I ask Naoko how many cards she has. Then I ask her how many Taichi has.
She realizes that he doesn't have any and when I ask her if she wouldn't mind giving the
card to Taichi, she agrees, gets a head rub, and Taichi is happy enough to continue.

For fun, when there's only one card left, I call out silly things like "pizza" or "banana"
and they laugh as they hit the card by mistake. They count their cards and Naoko wins.

Problem: Hiroki didn't win so he throws his cards and one hits poor Sayaka in the face.
She starts to cry.

Solution: I give Hiroki my angry face and take one of his points away. Now he's upset
too, he didn't mean to hurt anyone after all. I ask him to say sorry to Sayaka which he
does, and he gets his point back. I ask Sayaka if she's okay, and rub her head. She seems
fine, so I offer to give her a point if she wants to continue. She does.

Next, I test their ability to say the words by using a game of 'Quick Flash'. I show them
a card for a split second and see if they can say the word. They all start enthusiastically
calling out the answers, but instead of rewarding the first person (which is usally
Naoko) and risk the problems we just had, I decide it's best to say "Good job everyone!"
each time they say the word.... and I keep the cards to myself.

7. Textbook. I pull out the little tables and ask each kid in turn which color chair they
want (this usually appeases Taichi who can get pretty upset if he doesn't get the color he
wants). I ask the children to get their books and crayons and we sit down at the table
and turn to the page we are doing. After reviewing the language in the book, the kids
can draw a body on the page. They make a start and go round helping them and asking
them questions such as "What's this?" and "What color is it?" I notice that whereas
Hiroki and Naoko are rushing ahead and have nearly finished already, the other two
have barely started. Taichi is trying to sharpen his crayons while Sayaka is drawing the
most amazing picture ever - but she's still only on the face!

Problem: So, half the class is nearly finished and the other half a way behind.

Solution: This is tricky. In retrospect, I wish I had gotten the kids to draw one body part
at a time so we could have gone at the same pace, but too late for that now. Instead,
when the first two have finished I will ask them to copy their names above their picture
(that should slow them down!). Meanwhile I'll encourage the other two to speed up. If
they don't catch up, I'll ask them to finish it at home.

8. Games. First, I line the kids up and call commands for them to follow. Since, we are
doing body parts, I ask them to touch various body parts. If they make a mistake, they
sit down. We play a few times so they still have a chance even if they lose early in the
first round or two. Being a tactile learner, Taichi seems to be getting to grips with the
vocabulary now that he's using real body parts. The next game is "What do you have?" I
give Sayaka a body parts card and she holds it close to her chest so the others can't see.
They all ask "Do you have (body part)?" and Sayaka answers "No, I don't" until
someone gets it right. They love this game and they love 'being the teacher' at the front
with the cards.

Problem: It's Hiroki's turn with the cards, and while the others call out body parts, I
can't hear what Sayaka is saying over the noise.

Solution: I have the kids take turns to guess the card.

9. Story. In this fictional lesson I'm using the book 'From Head to Toe'. Naoko and
Sayaka are very much into it, with their eyes glued on the book. I ask questions about
the pictures they can see to get them involved with the story.

Problem: Hiroki, who can't sit still, is talking to Taichi and pinching him. Taichi isn't
too happy about this, and Naoko is getting annoyed because she wants to listen to the
story.

Solution: I pick up Hiroki and sit him on my lap and have him turn the pages of the
book. He enjoys the attention, Taichi is no longer being pinched, and Naoko can focus
on the book.

10. Song. While it was fun at first, Hiroki is desperate to get away from sitting on my
lap so when we finish the book, I start the CD and we launch into the Hokey Pokey
song to let off some steam. The kids have learned from previous lessons that this is their
last chance to boost their points up to the maximum of four. They give it everything and
they are all rewarded accordingly.

11. Wrap-up. To finish the lesson, the kids pull out their stamp cards and can choose
which stamp they want. They count off the circles on their cards as they are stamped.
The they go back to the mats, ready for the Good-bye song. We sing the song with
gestures and at the end I pick each kid up high in the air so they can touch the ceiling -
they love this! Finally, they line up at the door and I ask each of them a question about
today's theme which they answer. Good-bye's all round and off they go.

The End. If you teach kids regularly, I hope you can relate to what you've just read. If
you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. You can drop me an
email from the contact page. If you are considering teaching ESL to kids, I hope this has
given you an insight into what teaching children is all about!